Skill Drain—no need for grand words. The whole field falls silent; gods and monsters alike become blank slates. In its heyday it was every player's nightmare and the highest-risk card for triggering real-life duels.
Its suppressive power needs no further explanation—even today, it's still top-tier in shady decks, always the go-to tool for "revenge against society."
Of course, card strength and utility always depend on the context. If Skill Drain were truly unstoppable, it would be banned. Its continued legality shows that Konami doesn't think it's broken enough to ruin the meta.
Strong as it is, as a Continuous Trap with no archetype, it's hard to search and lacks stability. Its biggest flaw: it affects both players. Once activated, your own monsters become blanks too, narrowing the decks that can work with it.
Decks like Malefics, which rely on high ATK more than effects, are very suitable. If both sides are blank, it's just a contest of brute force—few can beat Malefics in a slugfest. There's a certain beauty in "bringing the opponent's IQ down to your level and winning through experience."
Additionally, effects like Stardust Dragon's aren't afraid of Skill Drain. If a deck's monster effects are mostly "tribute this card to activate," then they synergize well with Skill Drain, since it only negates effects of monsters on the field. If an effect triggers when the monster is tributed and leaves the field, Skill Drain can't stop it.
All in all, Kira was grateful for the precious "package" Paradox had delivered across time and space. Many things simply couldn't be obtained within this dimension.
And the package contained more than just cards.
Compared to the original, Paradox had survived, but there was no way Kira would let him go. Even if he was merciful, KaibaCorp was watching in the background—they'd never let a mysterious future man escape.
…
That night, Paradox was treated to a luxury suite at KaibaCorp—complete with high-tech energy field isolation and iron bars.
Naturally, all the equipment he'd used to travel here, along with everything he wore, was confiscated.
Kira specifically instructed the team not to leave him a single scrap—not even his underwear. Coming from an unknown future, even if his timeline was on the brink of extinction, it once boasted a civilization built on perpetual motion. Their basic technology was likely far ahead of today's.
Modern people know little of future tech; even if the risk is low, if he hid some high-tech escape device in his underwear, that would be trouble. To be safe, they stripped him completely and scanned his whole body for hidden devices.
Paradox: "..."
He really felt like he'd been mugged.
The biggest gain from all this future tech was likely the small perpetual motion machine.
KaibaCorp's scientists were ecstatic when they got it, as if they'd discovered a new world. They quickly realized this was the key to a new era, a device that could solve humanity's energy crisis forever. They couldn't wait to study every component, take it apart piece by piece.
"So, you're saying... this thing is related to Duel Monsters?"
Mokuba asked, examining the dismantled perpetual motion machine in the busy lab with Kira.
"That's right," Kira nodded.
"Simply put, without dueling, this machine can't run.
It's a new energy machine, but not just a machine. In a sense, it can read human hearts and respond to a duelist's spirit.
The right heart can lead it to create infinite value; the wrong heart can cause it to backfire, even bringing about the end of the world."
Mokuba whistled. "That scary?"
"Yeah, so development must proceed with extreme caution—no matter what, never rush for profit."
Kira paused.
"But that's for later. Until the Duel Monsters system reaches that stage, even if you build a perpetual motion machine, it's just scrap metal."
Mokuba immediately thought of the summoning method he'd just witnessed in the duel.
"You mean that... Synchro Summon?"
"Yeah."
Kira casually drew out the Stardust Dragon he'd taken from Paradox and handed it to Mokuba.
Mokuba looked at the white monster card and nodded. "Indeed, I've never seen a card like this before."
"I just tested it. Without the perpetual motion machine installed in the duel disk, this card does nothing in our current devices—it can't even be recognized as a card."
"So the perpetual motion machine and Synchro Monsters promote each other—I see," Mokuba said. "KaibaCorp will organize research across all fields."
"Feels like we're catching a glimpse of the future world," Mokuba mused.
Kira asked, "So, any clues about his origin? That Paradox guy, is he really from the future?"
Mokuba shook his head.
"At first, interrogation results made us believe so. He answered some questions that suggested he was from the future."
"But?" Kira sensed a 'but' coming.
"But then our Interdimensional Research Institute examined his craft and compared some parameters. They can't be certain yet, but they now lean toward believing that, while he might be from the future, it's not our timeline's future."
"A future from a parallel world?" Kira asked. "How's that possible?"
"No idea. When we asked him, he seemed clueless too."
Mokuba shook his head.
"From his own answers, he believed he was returning to his own past. But after arriving here and comparing our history, he found inconsistencies. Now, with our latest research, it seems he accidentally arrived in a different past from his own dimension."
Just then, a lab coat rushed out of the room.
"Speak of the devil," Mokuba said. "This is Dr. Gondo, head of the Interdimensional Research Institute. What's up? Why so urgent?"
Dr. Gondo, face flushed, panted for breath before speaking.
"We've made a new discovery."
He adjusted his glasses, then spoke gravely one word at a time.
"Our world... may be facing destruction."
…
…
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